Tommy "The Explorer" enjoys Chicago

We did a short family trip to Chicago City last weekend. We went to celebrate the wedding of my husband's cousin. All the family was there and we all have fun including Tommy. We decided to take Tommy with us because he is so used to be with mommy and daddy that we didn't feel confident left him because of the sensory issues, which is cousing a little of trouble for him to adjust to new people and situations. Tommy alsoenjoys trips to big cities and he always behaves and is very cooperative when we have taken him in family vacation to big cities. 

Tommy looking at the car and saying very loud "car."

Even although Tommy has sensory issues, the noises of the big city and looking at many cars moving around get him very excited; what makes me think, he gets a lot of sensory in put from them helping him to relax and enjoy. We will figure out more about Tommy' sensory issues in the coming weeks and I will post about it. But for now, we are so glad we took him with us and happy we spent time together as a family, which is not very often due to my husband's job.

We had time to enjoy Chicago City and we took Tommy to the Shedd Aquarium. Tommy's face lighted up as soon as we got into the showroom. He began to say and sign "fish." He was amazed with every fish he saw at the aquarium as any other child we saw over there.

 

Tommy enjoys any animal with 

fur or scale, it doesn't matter!

Tommy "the explorer" looked astonish with the outfit he wore for the wedding. He enjoyed the cellist playing during the wedding. He was amazed for the violin! Tommy has developed a natural preference for music and enjoy any type of musical instruments. 

 

 Tommy is growing up! 

He is not a baby anymore, 

he looks like a big boy with his outfit.
Daddy was so handsome, too! 

 I am very excited for my husband's causing and his wife who did a great job in organizing the weeding to make all his guests comfortable, have fun and enjoy the wedding. Both families and all the guests at the wedding had a good time! 

It was amazing how Tommy overcome his sensory issues and he got integrated in all weekend family events by running behind other kids, eating at the table in a big chair during the rehearsal dinner as a big boy, enjoying the photo-booth that was at the reception to create a photo album for the bride and groom, greeting with "Hi" and "Bye" to people, following directions, specially, when I couldn't hold his hand and I told him "follow daddy" and he ran behind diddy trying to catch up and looking for daddy when he didn't see him. Washing him enjoying just the small things like crossing the street by holding our hands and running as fast as he could made us so happy.

Tommy ate at the table on a chair for big people 

(No booster seat)

Tommy enjoyed the dressed up accessories 

to take pictures at the photo-booth.

Tommy had two occasions were he struggle with his sensory issues. One was when we took him to Shedd Aquarium. We took him to the Belugas' show and we completely forgot "he doesn't like when many people clap." So it was too overwhelming for him and he began to cry. So we comfort him and staid on our seats and told him people will be clapping because people were happy to see the belugas. He calmed down and enjoyed the event. But we could tell he got a little responsive when he heard people clapping. The second time, it was during the wedding when the groom and the bride were walking down the ale and people began to clap, but this time we helped him to to anticipate the clapping noise by telling him people will clap because they were happy for the groom and bride. So he calmed down and didn't cry.  We sat closet tho the cellist and I think it helped a little because music makes Tommy relaxed, so it was perfect even the spot were we sat at the wedding. We all had a good time!

Shynees –part of a typical development

Shyness in toddlers is part of a typical social and emotional development. This shows the child becomes increasingly aware of people they do not know, which it tells you the child is aware of his surroundings. If a child doesn't show shyness by 24 month it is recommended to talk the child's pediatrician.

Tommy was extremely social and outgoing when he was a baby, but he gradually became shy and quit among a big group of people, which makes me confident because he is having a typical social and emotional development. According to the book 'The Wonder Years,' "This shyness is likely to continue for some time –an 18-month-old may still be clingy and look to her or his parent for reassurance. By the age of three, many children are still self-conscious and quiet around those who are unfamiliar to them or when they are in big groups. As they get older, many children become more outgoing again; however, for some, signs of shyness persist and up to half of five –and six-years old still show some degree of shyness."

So building up our son's confidence and self-steem to help him to overcome his shyness is important to us. To support him in overcoming his shyness we are:

• Taking him to public places more often
• Giving him more opportunities to spend time with kids of age
• Giving him plenty of attention
• Praising him as much as we can
• Disciplining him with a positive nurturing environment
• Never focussing on shyness as a problem. Actually, we are trying not even mention he acts shy in front of him because this will only make him self-conscious. He is not shy, it is just part of his social and emotional development as any other child.

We are very proud of our boy because he is beginning to overcome his shyness. We attended to two family events (a wedding and a baptism) and Tommy wasn't shy. We could see him more confident among the big group of people and even smiling and making silly games with other people. When we came back home, daddy talked to Tommy about how proud we were of him for being very social with people and how well behave he was been in both family reunions.

People say how lucky Tommy is for having us,

we think how lucky we are for having him.

He is typically doing many things according to

his age regardless the syndrome.

"Let's pretend"

"For those who played make-believe as a child,

consider yourself lucky. According to Laura Berk,

the visiting psychology lecturer from Illinois State University,

children who play make-believe are better

and more prepared for the academic and social world."

Click here to read the complete article.

"Pretend play also promotes abstract thinking.

The ability to use a prop (such as a block) as a symbol for

something else (such as a phone) is a high-level thinking skill.

Eventually it will enable your child to recognize that

numbers represent quantities of things, and that combinations

of letters represent the words she speaks, hears, and reads."

Click here to read the complete article.

When one think about dress-up play, one imagine toddlers jumping and running dressing funny outfits. Raising my child with T21 has let me be witness that dress-up play can be a fun time for a child who has gross motor difficulties because of a genetic condition. We are supporting every single aspect of our son's development by giving him the opportunity of enjoying life as any other child; therefore, make-believe play is important for his cognitive skills.

My 28 month old boy plays dress-up regardless his level of gross motor skills. He is in the first stage of dress-up play. We have created a little area for him for dress-up play. We put a mirror with a little box with two hats, party bead necklace, sunglasses, an old t-shirt, a doll and a dress-up bear. My son favorite dress-up items are the hats, party bead necklaces and sunglasses. He likes to see at him-self in the mirror when he is wearing the hats. He moves the hats around his head and look at both sides to make sure he looks good. He likes to wear the sunglasses and crawl around while he point at them, it is his way to show them to me. I love to look at his face when he is wearing his sunglasses because he looks at me like an older guy, as shown in the photo below.

He has invited his plush animal "El Tucán" to play dress-up with him.

He put the party bead neckless around the toucan.

Creating a dress-up box for girls it is easier than for boys. I am currently looking for new items and costumes, I can adjust to my child gross motor skills while he can continue strengthening his make-believe play skills. It is becoming a very fun project for me. I will post a second article talking about what Items one can include in a dress-up play box for boys.

Related articles: Tommy's pretend play skills and Tommy "The Boxer"

Mr. Independent

From not where, Tommy started to wear his hat backward and I fixed it for him, but he protested. He put his hat backward again and point with both hands to the hat. It was like telling me "this is how I want to wear it." He knows what he wants and when he wants it. So, Mr. Independent wears his hat backward, it is his new fashion style.

I do it my-self!

Learning to take care of herself or himself is an important part of a child's personal and social development. Our son it is very observant, which I think it is what helps him with self-care skills. Tommy keeps learning and exploring by himself because he is in the stage "I do it my-self," which is age appropriate. The best way to help my son is to closely watch his development, which allows me to identify when he is ready for a new chore.

At this age, everything that toddlers do it is triumph for them and it is also the age where their personalities are forming; therefore, the feeling of accomplishment is important for any toddler with or without the syndrome. This helps to develop confidence in themselves. Expanding Tommy's chores helps to realize the frustration of the skills he is taking longer to master because of the hypotonia and it keeps boosting his brain by introducing novelty in his daily routine.

Tommy's hints for introducing new chores during bath time

One day, I saw him with his towel rubbing on side of his head. The light bulb turns on! He was trying to dry his hair. To confirm it, I took the towel and I gave it back to him saying: Take it and dry your hair. Surprisedly, he did. I allow him to help with drying his hair since then. Now, his rub both sides of his head and put the towel over his head. After he is done he has a big smile of accomplishment.

Tommy drying his hair for the first time.

During bath time on June 1st, he took a soup bottle that was open. He started to pour the soup on his head and body. The light bulb turns on! he was trying to wash his body and head. Since then, I allowed him to squeeze the soup bottle on a washcloth. To give him a better idea of taking a bath, Tommy and I play giving a bath to the baby boy doll.

The moment Tommy tried to take a bath

on his own was captured in video.

(I am glad I had the video camera upstairs).

Tommy washing his hair by himself

for the first time on June 4th, 2010

He turned the shower on and enjoyed the water falling on his head.

Unfortunately, I stopped filming because he was standing

on his own and I was afraid he could lose his balance.

Sorry that the video is in the wrong way.

As a mother, I want the best for my son. As parents, we want our son becomes an skilled independent person regardless the syndrome. Strengthening his self-care skills is to support him in his way toward independence.

Tommy, a funny guy

One thing that we like about Tommy is his emerging personality. He makes us laugh all the time. He likes to make funny faces. I have captured some of them in my photos. He started to occasionally do funny faces when he was about 10 month. Now, he constantly does it to make us laugh. Bellow are videos that briefly display Tommy's silly moments. The video tittles are: "The Fake cough" (This video doesn't display his best performance) and "The Latin Latin rhythm in my vines".




We are extremely proud of our son. The extra chromosome is not what our son is. It is what he has, which doesn't stop the little person he is. He is a very funny guy!

Tommy loves to hug Mommy

Expecting a baby with an extra chromosome didn't change our perspective of how parenting would be. Expecting a baby with an extra chromosome didn't change the love for our baby. Now, having a baby with an extra chromosome hasn't changed we can fully enjoy our son. Then, It won't change the illusion of a great future for our son because I can feel it every time he gives me a hug. (This video was taken when Tommy was 11 month old).

Tommy already waves